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6/05/2013

Cafe Mediterranean: A Mini-Review

I thought you needed a little break from my crazy long Olympic/Seattle recap. So here's a mini-review on a local Mediterranean place.

I've never been the biggest fan of Mediterranean food. I mean, I've always liked it okay, but I've never craved it or dreamt about it like I do with ice cream or Dewey's pizza. That's until I tried labneh or lebne. Then, BOOOOOM! My world was turned upside down and I longed to get my hands on more of this delicious and creamy delight. If you've never had lebne then you're missing out. It's somewhere between strained yogurt and cream cheese, often with hints of garlic and sprinkled with herbs and spices and a drizzle of olive oil. Oh, and served with warm pita bread...that's a must. Mmmm.

Wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah, lebne has given me a greater appreciation for Mediterranean food and now I find I crave it more and more. So when I saw a groupon for Cafe Mediterranean in Blue Ash, a spot I had been to once with the girls, I jumped on it since Antoine had never been. Plus, groupons can be a great vehicle for impromptu date nights to spots we normally wouldn't go. And often, especially in this case, the restaurant becomes a favorite that we'll eagerly look forward to visiting in the near future.

The food is excellent and the staff is so friendly! We started off with the lebne (of course) and the spinach borek. The lebne was fantastic! The sprinkle of fresh dill on top was just perfect. The borek, which we had never had before, is a flaky pastry filled with spinach and feta, rolled up like a egg roll and lightly fried. Tasty!

We both got the chicken kebab as our entree, which was juicy and flavorful. I opted for the steamed veggies instead of the rice and I'm glad I did; they were a tasty accompaniment to the chicken.

For dessert Antoine got the baklava, which I stole a bite of, and my goodness it was heavenly! I tried the Turkish coffee since we were going to the 10pm showing of Great Gatsby and it was a weeknight. I had never had before. Wow! It was intense.

It totally did the trick and I made it through the movie without passing out. But boy, oh boy, I don't now if I could handle that again. It was like drinking coffee-mud. But the demitasse it came in was exquisite.

Overall, Cafe Mediterranean is a great spot with good food and a super friendly staff. I'd recommend it to anyone for a nice little date night out!

Cather Quote

“The earth was warm under me, and warm as I crumbled it through my fingers...I kept as still as I could. Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep.” -Willa Cather, My Ántonia